IFFtoASCII
(C) June 1992 Paul Huxham
Organization: WaveFrame, Perth, Western Australia

Written in AMOS V1.34

This program is freely redistributable.
Any copyright however remains with the author.


WHAT IT DOES
============

  IFFtoASCII is designed to convert 16 Grey Level IFF pictures into lines
of ASCII characters that when viewed from a distance look like the original
picture.


HOW TO DO IT
============

  When loaded, click to enter the conversion routines. Select the image to
convert (right mouse button shows devices and assignments). Images that are
colour, HAM or brushes (images not full screen height and width in their
respective resolutions) should not be loaded. They will give unpredictable
results.

  IFFtoASCII shows you the screen width, height and number of colours of
the loaded image.

  Select whether you would like the image converted in PORTRAIT or
LANDSCAPE mode.

  Next select FULL SCREEN or DRAW RECTANGLE. DRAW RECTANGLE allows you to
define an area of the image to convert. Click the LEFT mouse button to
start drawing a box, and press the LEFT mouse button again to finish
drawing. You may now either click the LEFT mouse button to start drawing
another rectangle (losing the first), or the RIGHT mouse button to accept
the currently drawn rectangle and continue.

  Now enter the HORIZONTAL PIXEL TO TEXT RATIO and the VERTICAL PIXEL TO
TEXT RATIO. These can be a little confusing at first. Pressing return at
each prompt will load the default for an 80x24 text screen. Basically the
value entered is how many pixels represent 1 ASCII character. Be careful
when converting LORES INTERLACED pictures because the aspect ratio
vertically is twice the ratio horizontally (For 80x25 text output). It is a
good idea to experiment a lot with these settings to obtain the best
results. For example:

   Source Picture    Horizontal    Vertical   ASCII (Correct aspect)
      320x200            2            4       160x64
      320x400            2            8       160x64
      640x200            4            4       160x64
      640x400            4            8       160x64

  Next enter the number of grey levels to be represented in ASCII. Possible
values are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 16. For example:

    1  is Black or White  (2 different ASCII characters)
    16 is Grey            (16 different ASCII characters)

  Select an output file. A default name is given containing the horizontal
aspect, vertical aspect and number of grey levels. Useful for default names
to see which one looks the best. Files ARE NOT OVERWRITTEN. You will be
asked to confirm the overwrite if the output file already exists.

  The image will be converted. Click on CANCEL to abort the conversion.

  You will then be asked if you wish to convert more images or to quit.

  When you print your pictures, try setting condensed mode on your printer
(dont forget you then have to chnage the aspect ratio to get twice as many
characters horizontally than normal!). Or even condensed and half height
(no aspect changes required). The pictures look suprisingly good. (Well
what can you expect from ASCII characters :-)

  Seven example files of various sizes (you might have to load an editor
that supports files wider than 80 columns to see some of them) are included
so you can see what to expect (dont get your hopes up to high though :-).
All but one are included twice, once in 8 grey levels and once in 16 grey
levels and in portrait mode. The remaining picture is in landscape mode.


WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT
=====================

Not in any order:

i)    Yeah I know the interface is the pits, but its how it is.
ii)   Need to able to enter a figure for the number of columns and rows
      versus the current aspect ratio system.
iii)  Support for colour and HAM pictures.
iv)   Support for pictures larger than the screen.
v)    Presets for aspect ratios and grey levels. eg Lores-Interlaced.
vi)   Be able to move the rectangle in DRAW RECTANGLE once drawn to the
      right size.
vii)  Rewrite in C. Yeah I know its slow, especially on 68000.
viii) User defined ASCII characters for grey levels.
ix)   Preferences file.
x)    Moveable information screen using RIGHT mouse button.


IF YOU'RE NOT HAPPY
===================

In BLACK or WHITE:

i)    Don't use it and write your own.
ii)   Suggest changes to IFFtoASCII.


FOR MORE INFORMATION
====================

    Paul Huxham
    PO BOX 875
    Morley, Perth
    Western Australia 6062

    or via email:   paulh@wavefrm.DIALix.oz.au

 PERMSSN    UID  GID    PACKED    SIZE  RATIO     CRC       STAMP          NAME
---------- ----------- ------- ------- ------ ---------- ------------ -------------
[generic]                 4446   13685  32.5% -lh5- b331 Dec 31  1991 Crawford.2-4.16
[generic]                 3092   14520  21.3% -lh5- 4a5c Dec 31  1991 Crawford.2-4.8
[generic]                50939   54696  93.1% -lh5- b82a Dec 31  1991 IFFtoASCII
[generic]                 2120    4519  46.9% -lh5- 059f Dec 31  1991 IFFtoASCII.Doc
[generic]                  268     501  53.5% -lh5- ff54 Dec 31  1991 IFFtoASCII.Doc.info
[generic]                  171     306  55.9% -lh5- 2681 Dec 31  1991 IFFtoASCII.info
[generic]                  576    2240  25.7% -lh5- 7a80 Dec 31  1991 MPfieffer1.4-21.8
[generic]                 2977   10304  28.9% -lh5- 6053 Dec 31  1991 MPfieffer2.2-8.16
[generic]                  484     755  64.1% -lh5- 636c Dec 31  1991 Poster
[generic]                 1668    4307  38.7% -lh5- 9362 Dec 31  1991 RedSonja.2-8.16
[generic]                 1109    4248  26.1% -lh5- 8b21 Dec 31  1991 RedSonja.2-8.8
[generic]                  964    4508  21.4% -lh5- a173 Dec 31  1991 Yvette.5-5.8
[generic]                  343     601  57.1% -lh5- fc12 Dec 31  1991 __EndPad.CTE
---------- ----------- ------- ------- ------ ---------- ------------ -------------
 Total        13 files   69157  115190  60.0%            Mar  4  1993